Stratosphere quarterly profit up

Friday, Aug. 11, 2000 | 10:39 a.m.

Stratosphere Corp., owner of the 1,149-foot Stratosphere Tower in Las Vegas, reported a second quarter profit of $1.2 million or 57 cents per share vs. a profit in the year-ago quarter of $122,000 or 6 cents.

The hotel-casino controlled by investor Carl Icahn said quarterly revenue of $32 million was up from $29.7 million in the 1999 quarter as casino, hotel, food and beverage and tower attractions revenue all improved.

Stratosphere, which is building a $70 million Phase II tower with 1,000 rooms, said revenue from its existing 1,444 hotel rooms increased $400,000 to $6.5 million in the quarter as occupancy advanced from 89 percent to 96 percent.

But the average daily room rate of $51 was down from $52 as competition heightened on the Las Vegas Strip with the opening of some 10,000 hotel rooms in 1999.

Tower visitations of 538,000 during the second quarter were down 3 percent, a decline Stratosphere blamed on new attractions on the Strip.

Casino revenue of $12.2 million was up $900,000 or 8 percent compared to the 1999 quarter. The increase was attributed to construction disruptions for a new race and sports book and escalator in the 1999 quarter.